Should You Buy Ad-Aware Spyware Remover?
Ad-Aware is the grandfather of them all when it comes to adware and spyware removal programs Lavasoft provided Ad-Aware software to detect, block, and remove the malicious software back before users even knew what adware or spyware were. For some people, finding out about Ad-Aware was the way they first discovered that there were such things as harmful programs that could be put on their computers without their knowledge.
This software is now 10 years old. Version 8.0 has now been introduced, following many upgrades and improvements through the years. So, how well is it doing, after being around for a decade?
The reviews vary. Some reviewers think that Ad-Aware’s excellent reputation is merited. They distinguish between the free version, which leaves the user somewhat confused, and the paid version. In the latter, there you have been many improvements like faster startup and scanning.
The anniversary version is considered to be a step forward overall. Unfortunately, the TrackSweep feature cannot be used with Apple Safari and Google Chrome browsers, which is a problem for some. That feature wipes out your web browser history, so this is a definite minus. You may want to buy the Ad-Aware Pro version since the free program doesn’t include real-time registry protection or heuristic detection.
Some professional reviewers hold this opinion, but do amateur users like you agree? These reviews can vary greatly. On one hand, many people swear that Ad-Aware was the only program that could completely erase all of their malware. On the other, there are those who ran Ad-Aware several times and then had SpyBot or some other anti-spyware software find all sorts of malware that Ad-Aware missed. But that pretty well applies to every anti-spyware program, thus indicating that no program will find every bit of malware.
However, most of the negative reviews pertain to the free version, which is considerably different from the Pro version. The free version doesn’t provide enough protection to justify its use for many people. And for a few others, the software didn’t remove malware it said it could get rid of, and the tech support just wasn’t there. Also, no refund was given after the program failed. Recent versions of the software were found to freeze the user’s computer, forcing the user to revert to previous versions.
However, on every site where users can give 1 to 5 stars when they do their reviews, the average after hundreds of responses comes in to the 3.5 to 4 range. The implication is that this program is still a good choice, and although it’s not the top rated program, it’s still worth checking out.
You need an effective spyware removal tool in order to protect your computer and your personal data from hackers and thieves. Fortunately, there are a number of freeware spyware remover tools available which you can get at any number of sites that have freeware spyware removal software.
